After Bell leaves Hestia behind to fight the beast, we get a little bit of his flashbacks then. When no one would befriend him or take him into their Familia. Hestia was the one who approached him. Now, the two depend on each other for everything. It’s quite a sweet set-up. Despite Hestia’s power as a goddess, she’s still quite helpless on earth because she can’t use her full powers. The gods and goddesses are only able to give their adventurers their blessing.

Hestia decides to update Bell’s status mid-flight and gifts him with a new weapon – the weapon that Hephaestus crafted, one which gains strength according to the user; cleverly and conveniently named the Hestia Knife. Goodness, I wonder how much Hestia owes Hephaestus for that weapon. Hestia and Bell’s intimate moments are too sweet.

Meanwhile, Aiz, the Sword Princess and the other adventurers are working hard to dispose of all the other monsters or creatures that have rampaged throughout the city. By the end of the episode, we see major improvements in Bell’s stats, from agility to strength and certainly motivation. Hestia is such a wonderful little goddess. Inori Minase is SO ADORABLE acting as Hestia. I love her!

The soundtrack does a splendid job of adding to the action in these emotionally charged scenes. I love Bell’s determination as a young adventurer. Everyone in the city applauds Bell after he wins. TOO CUTE. The Hestia and Bell reunion is TOO CUTE!!! But all the joy is cut short when Hestia passes out after the battle. (Thank goodness she awakens a few hours later)… but what is Aphrodite planning in the background? And how is the huge conflict going to intersect with Bell and Hestia’s world? DanMachi is definitely amping up the action quickly.

New character hinted at the end of the episode…!

Episode 4 Rating: 3.5/5 curious clouds

Bell’s new ability seems to baffle some of his allies but his rapid growth is overall, a good thing. Now, he’s journeying up to the seventh floor and needs new equipment as a result. Eina, his dungeon advisor, drags him into Hephaestus’s shop for some new gear and goodness is the equipment extravagant. Awkwardly for Bell, he catches his little goddess working part-time at Hephastus’s shop to help pay off the fee for the dagger. Hestia is too cute.

Eina brings Bell into a separate market of new blacksmiths with much more affordable prices and he picks up some light armour. As Bell is heading home, he runs into a little girl in pursuit. He interrupts and the fight is broken up by Ryu, one of the bar maids. The next day after, Bell bumps into the same little girl again, a supporter by the name of Liliruca Arde, otherwise known as Lili, from the Soma Familia. She starts off as a bit too mischievous for her own good, and Bell is definitely too naïve but they somehow make the partnership work… well, despite the fact that Lili stole his knife.

Awkwardly for Lili, she can’t sell the knife for anything because it changes levels of strength depending on the user. Ryu intercepts Lili on the streets when she spots Bell’s knife. Dayum, Ryu is scary. But thank goodness she’s kind to Bell. Seems like this little episode stirs something in Lili when neither Syr nor Ryu reveal her thievery. She ends up tagging along with Bell in the long run and they’re a pretty productive team. Despite Lili’s greedy tendencies, she’s still quite a kind-hearted girl. Bell is especially grateful to her and his generosity utterly baffles her.

Flash out to a different scene when Aiz and her guild mate, Riveria, are fighting a monster in a deeper part of the dungeon…

When Aphrodite spots Bell from her window, she begins to scheme again. Seriously, what is with her obsession with him?